Greek, Balkan and/or Turkish restaurants, bars, coffee shops, groceries and bakeries in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area [Danforth] [Scarborough] [Ossington]

@mrsleny the imam bayildi at most Turkish restaurants should be vegan . I would think the lentil soup and meatless stuffed grape leaves should be vegan.

Greeks, Macedonians and Serbs, as well as Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, and Coptic Egyptians, tend to give up dairy if they fast during Lent (although they may keep shellfish and some fin fish in their fasting diets), before Xmas, and on the days before they take communion, so it’s not that difficult to find a few vegan dishes at Greek restaurants that have a significant Greek clientele. Of course, the elderly Greek client base is getting smaller and people tend to be more secular these days. The lentil soups should be vegan at any Greek-run Greek restaurant. Horta, some vegetable pies (but check that the filo is brushed with oil and not butter).

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Thank you so much for the tips. I’m really hoping for vegan pide … they should be able to do grilled veggies without the cheese. I don’t think the dough has dairy.

As for Greek, my go to is Pantheon on Danforth … their hummus and pantheon salad are my favs. Sadly the gigante bean dishes are usually cooked with chicken stock, as is the rice and potatoes. But

I am surprised any Greeks are cooking gigantes with chicken stock, to be honest. I’m glad you asked. That’s a little weird, since many Greeks eat gigantes when they’re fasting.

If you visit other Danforth restaurants, ask. Chicken stock is not usually used in gigantes in Greek home cooking.

The food at Santorini in Richmond Hill is pretty good. I’ve been there for Greek bridal showers and baptisms.

It’s common for restaurants to add the chicken base powder to their rice. I hate the powder and can taste it when restaurants add it to their soups or rice. I realize some would be adding it to their roasted potatoes, to add flavour and salt.

I would think some Danforth restaurants would be roasting potatoes without chicken base, esp during Advent and Lent. But you’d have to call and check. Athens Restaurant (a bit of a dive) is the most traditional and I think they would have the most Lenten and Advent observant options.

I usually order mezes (small plates) and skip it the mains that come with rice and potatoes.

At home, unless someone is roasting a chicken with the potatoes, most Greek home cooks wouldn’t be adding chicken base to potatoes unless they’re short cut -type cooks. Some would add chicken broth or chicken stock, to their lemony roast potatoes. The Greek side of my family doesn’t do that.


Re: vegan pide
I’m sure most pide places would make it vegan, by special request, if you ask.

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I only asked about gigante at pantheon because that’s our go to.

Thank you so much for reminding me about Santorini. It’s been years since I’ve gone. Definitely will add to our list.

Happy Eating!

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Ordered the mix kebab for 2 from chef Mustafa hmmm middling imo but with the variety and price point (promo of happy hour and reduced price) it did just fine

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A Koz Bingol Express is located at 655 Queen West

A different Koz Bingol location is located at 6255 Bathurst next to an Esso station
https://kozbingolcanada.ca/menu-restaurant/

On College St in Little Italy

Has anyone seen Chicken Adana Kebab on any Turkish menus in Toronto recently?

Quick search on UberEats shows
mangal
Mama fatma
Turkish flame
That’s a good starting point I suppose

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Thank you! A Mama Fatma location opened in London recently, on the site of what had been a Greek family restaurant called The Paragon.

3 Mama Fatma locations now, Vaughan, Mississauga and London

Turkish Flames has 2 locations, Mississauga and Kitchener

And Mangol is in Scarborough

So- it’ll be some other kind of kebab or chicken for me tonight🤣

I tried the Köz Bingöl Express located at 655 Queen W, at Queen and Bathurst tonight. This is the doner platter ($18.99 before tax)
I like it. It’s enough meat for 2 people.





The pilaf contains barley. I was impressed their salad was better than most salads at inexpensive Middle Eastern restaurants.

I will try the pide and soup another time.

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A visit to Greektown.
I hadn’t had a Messini souvlaki for 6 or more years. I ordered their pork souvlaki in a pita without onions, through their site, and paid with cash when I arrived. It was fine. Generous amount of pork, but not as juicy as Mezes or Soula’s. It was ready in 15 minutes, before the dinner rush.

Pork souvlaki in a pita, with a few fries wrapped inside at Messini, is currently $12.

Avgolemeno soup to go from Mezes was $12. Good version.

Mezes’ dolmades were fine but I think my order last December tasted better. Mezes had the food ready in 20 minutes, also before the dinner rush.

A new restaurant called Salonika will replace Megas.

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Had a delivery from Azhar not impressed with the portions at all. Same as their in person dining priced at an elevated level when you see what you get for the $ not worth it

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Ordered delivery from Saaray in RH today it took it’s time to arrive.
Hmmm very average IMO
Muhammara has an odd overly sweet taste (not the one you get from molasses drizzle)
Hayderi was decent dips come with a side of bread.
Chicken shish is ok
Pide would be average as well

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I picked up Loukamades and Galaktoboureko at Athens Pastries. Both were decent for a commercial bakery. (7.5/10) We prefer Serano Bakery’s style of Galaktoboureko.

The Serano version uses more syrup, and less semolina in the milk custard filling, relative to Athens Pastries and Menalon Bakery.

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Not sure if this counts as taking one for the team, since the only mentions of Estiatorio Milos from this group have been related to whether really pricey restaurants can survive in the Toronto market. We were curious enough to try it before a performance at the Four Seasons Centre, despite the menu prices.

It’s a impressive space, with a giant main room where the fresh seafood is prominently displayed. The service was friendly and very attentive. There appeared to be several dozen staff, more than the number of diners when we started, although the tables started to fill by the time we left. And the food? Overall, very good, but not really justifying the prices (at least to us). We’ll let you judge.


For drinks, we shared 2 glasses of wine (we didn’t get the years for them). Each glass was in the ballpark of $25, but there were some that were a lot more.

  • Ktima Biblia Chora Estate White, Sauvignon Blanc and Assyrtiko blend, Pangeon, Greece - lots of minerality and a good bit of citrus.
  • Ktima Gerovassiliou, Malagousia, Epanomi, Greece - very floral and a fuller body.

They first brought some complimentary toasted bread with fragrant olive oil and baby oregano snipped off a potted plant.

We went to the fish display to pick our choice for a crudo. We selected favri (a sea bream). Half came with a lemon and was adorned with sea salt and fresh thyme; the other half came with a lime and was decorated with fresh chili, coriander, and sea salt. It was all beautifully fresh. It was also over $100. When we were finished, they took away the head and spine, lightly deep fried it, and returned it to us to pick over the remaining tasty morsels.


We then had a half-order of the Milos Special, which are very thin slices of deep fried eggplant and zucchini, along with some deep fried saganaki cheese and a small dollop of tzatziki - the frying was excellent, not at all oily; the tzatziki was very mild, with little garlic. The cost of the half order was $22.50.

Well, we had to try the Astakomakaronada, since that’s one of the dishes being mentioned in a number of reviews. It uses a whole lobster and has a delicious tomato-based sauce with onions, garlic, and what seemed to be crunchy bits of fennel. The pasta was perfectly done, but the lobster was a tad overdone, particularly the tail pieces. The dish was market priced in terms of the lobster, which in our case turned out to be just over $200. Admittedly the dish is about double the volume of many pasta dishes at other restaurants, but nonetheless, it does not seem to merit the price.

To finish the meal, we shared a small cheese plate. The selection included kefalograviera (nutty and slightly sharp), manouri (creamy and fresh), and melipasto (harder and quite sharp). They were accompanied by dried apricots, figs, mango slices, walnuts, fresh thyme sprigs, and honey. We also shared a glass of Parparoussis, Mavrodaphne, fortified (with their own spirit) dessert wine, Patras, Greece - like a cross between port and sherry, with dried fruits and some oxidized character.

Total damage before tax and tip was just over $500. I’m sure the location, the quality of the fresh seafood, and the number of staff are part of the reason for such prices. But for similar prices, we could have more interesting meals elsewhere.

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Yikes :flushed:

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I’ve always enjoyed my meals at Milos in Montreal. Thanks for your review.

I have narrowed my order down to 4 mezes at the Montreal location. I tend to like mezes and shellfish more than cooked fin fish mains, so for me, that’s more bang for my buck.

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Thanks for your feedback @DrJohn they are quite pricey at their other locations as well (I have only tried the Vegas location a few times) though I think their prix fixe lunch warrants a visit from Moi as I used to enjoy it a lot on my Vegas trips.
BTW mamakas has started set menus for a fixed price for groups of 2+ would have gone there a few weeks ago with a larger group but had to cancel last min due a person in the group falling ill (they kindly waived the cancellation fees after I spoke to them). Good feedback nonetheless much appreciated

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Had the mix pide from chef Mustafa decent I guess I would compare it pizza pide level (Mustafa restaurant still being the benchmark IMO)

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Tried delivery from Sibel today. Oh boy they seemed to focus and spend on the packaging
Dips trio all pretty good smaller portion though.
Chicken shish decent
Beef shish good
I will try again



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Had Adana and lahmahchun from Sibel today as their kebab portion is smaller. Good stuff


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